Riding Out Katrina (Mobile on the Day After)
Many thanks to my friends and family for their expressions of concern about me in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I am well and my property was not damaged. The storm yesterday was dramatic, but not really scary for me here in downtown Mobile. Lots of wind and rain, sounds of explosions (from trees falling or transformers exploding), and a general sense of the raging power of brooding nature unleashed. By the end of the afternoon yesterday I was able to walk around outside in my neighborhood, being careful to avoid flying debris from branches and roofs and whatever else wasn't tied down.
Mobile was quite a scene post-Katrina today, although we in the city (as opposed to the outlying coastal areas of Alabama) saw nothing like the unbelievable devastation of Mississippi or Louisiana. The TV images of flooding and destruction, and the reports of many deaths, make it sound quite horrific around New Orleans and in the bayou/beach regions. New Orleans wasn't hit as hard as it could have been, but it sounds like the post-hurricane flooding has devastated the city for perhaps months to come. Apparently waters are still rising in downtown N.O. even this afternoon (Tuesday).
My battery-operated radio has been my main source of information over the last day and a half. I appreciate the colloquial and chatty quality of some reports from local stations, which remind me of the days after the Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco in 1989. As after that disaster, people have been encouraged to call in to the radio stations to share their personal stories of enduring the storm, of needing help, of witnessing the incredible. Others call in offering rooms for the homeless. On the other hand, I've also had to turn off the radio in disgust at times when stations seemed to exploit stories of personal misery and hardship. There's a very thin line sometimes between crass commercial hype (with unctuous musical punctuation) and helpful information. Insurance companies run repetitive ads about how to get in touch with assessment agents. The reporters are in their element, apparently, with a real disaster to cover.
I drove around Mobile this morning. There were fallen trees, downed power lines and light poles and cell towers, and debris of all kinds everywhere; downtown Mobile had been flooded yesterday, but was drying out today. All of the traffic lights are out, electricity is down just about everywhere, stores are almost universally closed, and people are driving from service station to station looking for gas for their cars or electricity generators. Occasional robberies and looting have been reported. Some bridges and tunnels are closed around town, and the causeway that crosses the Mobile Bay is impassable (I-10 is open, however). A lot of dead birds — pelicans, mainly — litter the Interstate, victims of disorientation or shock, I suppose. Local people are out and about today, cleaning up the mess, assessing damages. I moved big branches from my driveway and yard yesterday while the wind was still blowing, and then I raked up smaller debris (just like after Hurricane Ivan). The scene looks a good deal worse than after Ivan last year, despite our having been much closer to the eye of the earlier storm. I think being on the eastern side of this storm made the wind and rain effects worse for us, even though we were more than a hundred miles from the eye of Katrina.
My electricity is out; that's really the worst of the effects for me — not bad at all compared to nearby areas. Today it's sunny and in the 90s, so my house is sweltering without any air conditioning or fans. Nor do I have refrigeration, so I've been eating what can still be eaten and opening a lot of cans. The power company is saying that we'll be without electricity for days if not weeks, because given the scale of the devastation across the coastal area, repair crews are stretched extremely thin.
I decided to leave Mobile for a day or two. I'm writing this email from a Marriott Extended Stay Hotel lobby in Pensacola. But I'm not spending the night here; there don't seem to be any available hotel rooms in this area, so I may head further eastward this afternoon to look for a motel. I've also brought a tent with me, so I may camp out tonight (which would in any case be more comfortable than staying in my house). I imagine that the University will open up again on Wednesday or Thursday.
Thanks again for your many messages and thoughts. I'll let you know how things go when I can.
—Lincoln
Mobile was quite a scene post-Katrina today, although we in the city (as opposed to the outlying coastal areas of Alabama) saw nothing like the unbelievable devastation of Mississippi or Louisiana. The TV images of flooding and destruction, and the reports of many deaths, make it sound quite horrific around New Orleans and in the bayou/beach regions. New Orleans wasn't hit as hard as it could have been, but it sounds like the post-hurricane flooding has devastated the city for perhaps months to come. Apparently waters are still rising in downtown N.O. even this afternoon (Tuesday).
My battery-operated radio has been my main source of information over the last day and a half. I appreciate the colloquial and chatty quality of some reports from local stations, which remind me of the days after the Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco in 1989. As after that disaster, people have been encouraged to call in to the radio stations to share their personal stories of enduring the storm, of needing help, of witnessing the incredible. Others call in offering rooms for the homeless. On the other hand, I've also had to turn off the radio in disgust at times when stations seemed to exploit stories of personal misery and hardship. There's a very thin line sometimes between crass commercial hype (with unctuous musical punctuation) and helpful information. Insurance companies run repetitive ads about how to get in touch with assessment agents. The reporters are in their element, apparently, with a real disaster to cover.
I drove around Mobile this morning. There were fallen trees, downed power lines and light poles and cell towers, and debris of all kinds everywhere; downtown Mobile had been flooded yesterday, but was drying out today. All of the traffic lights are out, electricity is down just about everywhere, stores are almost universally closed, and people are driving from service station to station looking for gas for their cars or electricity generators. Occasional robberies and looting have been reported. Some bridges and tunnels are closed around town, and the causeway that crosses the Mobile Bay is impassable (I-10 is open, however). A lot of dead birds — pelicans, mainly — litter the Interstate, victims of disorientation or shock, I suppose. Local people are out and about today, cleaning up the mess, assessing damages. I moved big branches from my driveway and yard yesterday while the wind was still blowing, and then I raked up smaller debris (just like after Hurricane Ivan). The scene looks a good deal worse than after Ivan last year, despite our having been much closer to the eye of the earlier storm. I think being on the eastern side of this storm made the wind and rain effects worse for us, even though we were more than a hundred miles from the eye of Katrina.
My electricity is out; that's really the worst of the effects for me — not bad at all compared to nearby areas. Today it's sunny and in the 90s, so my house is sweltering without any air conditioning or fans. Nor do I have refrigeration, so I've been eating what can still be eaten and opening a lot of cans. The power company is saying that we'll be without electricity for days if not weeks, because given the scale of the devastation across the coastal area, repair crews are stretched extremely thin.
I decided to leave Mobile for a day or two. I'm writing this email from a Marriott Extended Stay Hotel lobby in Pensacola. But I'm not spending the night here; there don't seem to be any available hotel rooms in this area, so I may head further eastward this afternoon to look for a motel. I've also brought a tent with me, so I may camp out tonight (which would in any case be more comfortable than staying in my house). I imagine that the University will open up again on Wednesday or Thursday.
Thanks again for your many messages and thoughts. I'll let you know how things go when I can.
—Lincoln
posted by Lincoln Z. Shlensky at 3:06 PM
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